Trapped In a Locker
by Azure129
Summary: One shot, NOW WITH SEQUEL, based on KASUKapl's DevArt comic "Trapped In a Locker"! What happens when Helga shoves Arnold into a locker for a 'pounding? Please find out by reading this story! AXH of course!
1. Trapped In a Locker

**A/N:**

Hi there everyone :) Sick of waiting for me to update "Dinner and a Show" and "April 2nd"? Or perhaps you've just finished the new chapter of LTBH and now have to unfortunately wait like 6 weeks for the next update because my life is crazy? XD Well, anyway, in the meantime, here's a one shot I've done based on the comic "Trapped in a Locker" by KASUKapl on DeviantArt. The link for the comic is here (just take out the spaces):

**http : / / kasukapl . deviantart . com / art / Trapped-on-a-locker-182302107?q = &qo =**

(And here's a brief quote from her description about the situation of the comic)

"_And well, here it's the result OwO An angry Helga putting Arnold into a locker and kissing him like crazy and he ENJOYING it As I said this takes place REALLY close to TJM OwO! Let's imagine that there is 6th season and a lot of stuff happen and blah blah :blah: xD Arnold has almost realized his feelings for Helga and obviusly he KNOWS about her feelings for him 3 Helga told him to punch him but he doesn't buy it since he knows how Helga feels, Helga crash out and pull him into that locker and kiss him and he likes it YAY! ! And well... OwO What else happened on that locker is up to your imagination ;D ENJOY IT"_

I hope you guys enjoy what _my_ imagination came up with for this ^_^ And thank you KASUKapl for the awesome comic ;)

**~*TRAPPED IN A LOCKER*~**

* * *

"See what you did! You made us late for class! You're lucky I'm not going to pound you!"

Helga G. Pataki slammed one of her hands against the locker behind the football headed boy at whom she was currently yelling, and used her other hand to point a finger right in his face. '_Who does he think he is anyway—slamming into me on that street corner like he always does, and then getting all flustered and random and wishy-washy and pathetically do-goodery about apologizing and picking me up and trying to 'clean me off' instead of just letting us make the bus to the school! Jerk…_' In fact, Helga had been noticing Arnold doing that a lot lately (particularly ever since the FTi…er… 'incident'…) actually… Getting himself all worked up around her, bothering her, even making little side jokes at her expense…but always coupled with that adorable half lidded gaze of his that made her absolutely torn between being furious with him for being so bold and just wanting to swoon at that smile of his accompanying his new little daring streak… It had all actually started with that tango he'd done with her at the April Fools dance, come to think of it…She _still_ wasn't sure what the heck all of that had been about with the holding her and the dipping and the 'Don't worry, my poor, blind friend…You're in good hands'…

…And yet…in the midst of her more wild fantasies and dreams about him it had made one interesting (and slightly embarrassing…and VERY surprising observation) continuously pop into Helga's mind. '_Maybe he's not SUCH a goodie two shoes…It's almost like there's some kind of dark passionate secret side he's got…Something deep down that—_')

"Helga, you've been saying that for years. I know you'd never follow through with your threats."

The sound of Arnold's voice suddenly presenting this challenge snapped Helga back to reality instantly. '_Oh __please__—what am I thinking? Yeah, Arnold with an edge—in my fantasies and __nowhere__ else. He…he was just getting back at me with that stupid dance…and all this stuff since then was probably just…him being his stupid loopy self! And—_' And then what he'd just said really processed with her… '_WHO DOES HE THINK HE IS? What—does he think just because I went a little head over heels on him on a rooftop that I'm some kind of softie?_' And yet Helga felt a lurch of frustration inside of herself all of a sudden at the very real fact that she would never be able to bring herself to hit Arnold—ever—and that now _he_ knew it too. No, there was nothing she had in her arsenal to combat his accusation that her threats were all empty and idle…Nothing that would shock him and panic him and shut him up like her blustery insults and threats had done for all these years… She almost scoffed to herself as her thoughts wandered. '_Last time I made him like that was…_'

She gulped when she realized what the last time had been…and what exactly had done it (and it certainly hadn't been a 'blustery threat or insult).

She couldn't, of course. Not here. No. In public? _Please_!

Yet…speaking of public…other people were bound to be noticing them right now…She at _least_ needed to keep up the act of hating him…of taking no guff from anyone ever. So she had to do _something_.

Was she working off of enough of an adrenaline rush at the moment to kill two birds with one stone?

'_Hmm…why not? And it would sure take that smug little smile off of his face…' _she couldn't help but finish to herself with satisfaction.

"OH yeah? Let's see, Bucko!" Helga suddenly yelled right at her smug little beloved, and before he could respond she'd ripped open the slightly ajar door of the locker behind him with one hand (she didn't bother to question why it was open…or whether that fact meant that someone was going to come back to it soon), shoved a suddenly petrified looking Arnold inside with her other hand (hearing him give a small little 'Ow!' as he hit the back of the locker)…

…And then she stepped right inside with him.

"Helga?" Arnold's formerly confident-sounding voice suddenly trembled…he just stood there, watching her…practically terrified looking!

'_Ah, just like the good old days_…' A happy smirk came to Helga's face at the obvious effect she was having on him.

And then she instantly slammed the locker door closed behind them!

'_Perfect_…' the young girl thought to herself, practically grinning as the door clicked shut behind her… After all, everyone in the hall had just seen her shove Arnold into a locker to 'teach him a lesson' (thus saving her reputation)…and now she also had him all alone to do whatever she had to do with him (thus giving her a chance to knock him back down a few pegs…and maybe to have a little fun before class).

The two were now enveloped in the darkness of the locker, save for a few bars of light coming through the slats of the door… Suddenly, Helga heard Arnold address her again (in an obviously confused and slightly worried voice). "Helga, what are you do—MMM!"

Summing up all of her courage, Helga G. Pataki had just done something which she hadn't had it in her to do since that early morning on the rooftop of the FTi building several weeks ago…She'd grabbed her startled beloved, shut her eyes tight, and pulled his frightened little self forward into a full lip-locking kiss!

'_Shuts him up, shows him who's boss, teaches him a lesson…And also_…' She felt herself uncontrollably quiver a little… _'Crimeny his mouth tastes delicious! Lips so soft…so untouched…except by me, of course…Oh __Arnold__…_' Yeah, despite the fact that the main motive here was her own frustrated revenge…Helga couldn't help slowly sinking in to being a total loop-de-loop goner for him. _'__Crimeny__, I have missed this!'_

'_She…we…I…_' Arnold was finally starting to think a little bit now as well (considering the situation)…and okay, fine, he would admit it—he'd been pushing Helga's buttons a little bit lately! Or a LOT lately! Sue him! After seven long years of experiencing her unsolicited torture it was…well, darn it, it was _fun_! He had a permanent 'get out of pounding' free card! And…it wasn't like he was abusing his unique position all _that_ much…He'd been at least _trying_ to keep himself tame, of course. Only little smiles and harmless jokes and…and those times he kept finding himself stumbling over himself and acting kind of nervous and tongue-tied around her and…Okay that last stuff hadn't really been part of a small revenge on his part…Actually he wasn't sure WHERE exactly it had all come from but…but…

He released a sigh through his nose and his eyes drifted closed…his whole body shivered a little and then relaxed in her grasp. He couldn't distract himself from it anymore…couldn't milk another moment of pretending it wasn't happening out of his initial shock…couldn't push his thoughts into some other topic for the time being…She was kissing him again…Holding him…alone here in the darkness…Was…was this her…her 'pounding' of him? Was this what it would be from now on? She couldn't bring herself to hit him so instead she'd…kiss him…?

He felt his heartbeat slow…and then increase…His thoughts were fuzzed over… He figured he was probably supposed to stop this…but he…just couldn't bring his honest little conscience to lie to himself and reject her kiss…because, when you got right down to it, there was nothing inside of him that…had any real desire to reject her at all…

Suddenly though her soft, burning lips were pulled away from his own of their own accord!

Arnold sucked in cool air sharply and his eyes popped open wide at the sensation! Then he felt his lips tremble a little…and tingle…just like after her kiss on the FTi building, he couldn't help but recall at the back of his mind…

And then he heard the sound of a giggle in the darkness.

It sent a spark through his heart.

"Oh come on, Football Head…Let Dark Arnold come out…" cooed a light female voice.

He felt a finger trace gently over his sweater up his chest…ending by giving him a light tap on the nose.

He felt his knees all but give out from under him. _'Wh-Wh…Huh…?_'

"Football Head?" inquired the lovely voice again…He didn't have it in him to look to the glint of her eyes in the faint light filtering into the locker, and so kept his wide gaze low…where it happened to fall upon her smiling, dark lips. Everything inside of him was just…was just…

"Arnold?" And now a slight frown of concern came to that mouth. "Arnold, are you…"

"MMM!" His reciprocation was so instant, so intense, so strong, so sudden, so—

It had caused Helga to slam against the inside of the locker door, his arms around her body, squeezing her, holding her…squeezing HER, holding HER! And then her beloved let out a deep sigh through his nose, of all things! Heck, it almost felt like a small moan accompanied it! And it sounded…HAPPY!

'_Wh-wha_—' Helga's thoughts could barely form! There was nothing but his arms burning against her, the pressure of his body against hers, and his lips… '_His lips…__Ahhhh_!' She gave a girlish internal sigh! His lips that she had always longed for…those perfect petals of pristine flesh…she wasn't just getting the chance to feel them against her own anymore…not this time. They were actively, passionately, ravenously _pressing_ against her own! Like he was…like he was ACTUALLY…LIKING THIS?

Only one thought managed to enter her dazed and delighted and dazzled head… '_Wh-when I told him to let his dark side come out…I didn't think he actually really did HAVE one! Oh…oh…oh __Arnold_…' She absolutely melted against the locker door… '_Why didn't you tell me all I had to do was go through with a threat for once, my handsome, daring, delicious…__Oh__…_' Her mind went blank in amorous intoxication and love…

Arnold, meanwhile, was having his own little mental meltdown…

'_Why…why THAT? Why'd she have to go and do __that__? She could have just hit me like she said! Why did she have to do it again…?_' Arnold, of course, was referring to…well…her kiss…. The one that, that first time…on FTi…had all but made him collapse in…in…(he'd been searching for a word to describe it, actually, ever since it had happened…and had been rather surprised when his mind, which he'd hoped would cling to terms like 'fright', 'shock', 'confusion', even 'disgust'…had instead been spontaneously exploding with words and phrases like 'excitement', 'interest'… 'pleasant surprise'… 'emotional… (he'd had to look this one up but the description seemed to fit)…ecstasy…' (the term 'attraction' was also barely whispering at the back of his mind…though the very idea made him blush so furiously that he hadn't allowed it to do more than that…)

And now he was in locker with her, in the dark after she'd just passionately kissed him…and he was pinning her against the door and wrapping his arms tight around her, and he was fairly certain that if he opened his eyes, by the light filtering in through the slats in the door, he would have seen her wide-eyed and confused and practically in shock, just like _he_ had been during that kiss from _her_ on that building…

And yet, though that possibility might have 'sounded' like a 'bad thing'…something about the idea…actually only made him want to hold tighter, made him want to kiss deeper, and made his heart pound harder because…because she… WHY did she have to do that? WHY did she have to be so confusing and complicated and…and WHY did she have to give kisses with no warning or reason that made him feel 'ecstasy' of all things!

But that wasn't the reason he was panicking and kissing her now… No, he could have dealt with all that…he could have let her just get her kiss to him out of her system and leave him collapsed in strange and wonderful emotions that he couldn't even begin to try naming…He could have just let this happen, let it wash over him and then have gone back to their game of things like this being 'heat of the moment'…except…

'_Oh come on, Football Head—let dark Arnold come out…'_

She moaned now all of a sudden and Arnold couldn't help doing it back, both because of the feeling of that low sound coming from her lovely throat and mouth (and how it begged to be answered by a sound in return), and also…because of the memory of that simple request she'd cooed to him in the darkness after her lips had softly separated from his… 'dark Arnold'…And then she'd even _giggled_.

Everything inside of him had just turned to…

Well, it made him shiver even just thinking about it. Dark Arnold? A dark side…_him_? Could she… She couldn't know how he'd been…thinking he was feeling…She couldn't know all those times ever since FTi when he'd found himself sitting near her in the dugout at Gerald Field, or at the table next to her in the cafeteria, or on the sidewalk eating ice cream with her and their friends…and she'd say something insulting to him and lean back and scowl like she didn't care…and all he could think about was their time together on that rooftop. _'Oh Arnold, just hold me…I suppose you'll have to do the thinking for both of us now, DARLING'… 'Wonderful, I'll go with you to lie down!_'… She couldn't know how every time she got anywhere near him it made him relive it all…want to talk about it all…want to remember it all…want to…want to…

'_I…I need to…No, Arnold, just_…' his thoughts barely broke through as Helga, obviously coming a bit out of her shock, moved her arms from limp at her sides to gently wrapping them around his head and hair…clinging to it…cradling it almost…the head she'd insulted for years but secretly obviously adored… He tried to ignore it all… _'Arnold, just let her go…Let her go and pull away and say you're sorry and leave the locker…This isn't right…You don't like her…not like __this__! None of it makes any sense! Just…just move your hands to her shoulders…_' Another sigh escaped him through his nose… '…_Away from her warm, soft body to…to her firm, lovely shoulders…U-Use them to push yourself away from her lips…e-even though yours fit with hers perfectly…and even though they're the softest thing you've ever felt…and so sweet…and so pink…She looks so pretty in pink… NO!_' His eyes almost flew open in fright at the (actually not entirely unusual lately) direction in which his thoughts had started to go in terms of her! '_WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME, I…I…I don't want to be in this locker kissing a girl! I DON'T want to be in this locker kissing Helga G. Pataki…_'

'_I DON'T want him to ever stop…EVER! I don't know what this is but I…oh ARNOLD!' _

Yes, Helga's rather distracted mind was catching a second wind at this point, and now that her arms were over Arnold's shoulders and around his neck she suddenly, in a fit of passion, pushed forward, causing Arnold to crash into the back of the locker with a light slam and her body to follow right along with his!

His lips were…it was like she was drinking love and life and desire from them! '_This is insane! This is crazy! Someone's going to catch us! Oh WOW he is an amazing kisser! Who knew?'_

'_OW!'_ Arnold felt himself hit the back of the locker and instantly his eyes flew open wide and his breathing through his nose became heavy and staggered! Okay, he'd been able to just barely manage handling things when she'd just been stiff with surprise at his actions…he'd even been able to just barely keep his head above water when her arms had come around him like that…But now she was just…just CONSUMING him! Holding, squeezing, pushing, pressing, like she couldn't get enough of him or something! (And he couldn't deny that something about the idea of being that…_desired_ by her…it made him feel all…all shivery inside…!) Arnold's eyes fell closed again, a final large sigh escaped him…and he let himself go completely limp in Helga's arms, only just barely clinging with his hands around her waist so that he really wouldn't drop like a stone the second she took away this electric experience that she had created in the first place. _'I…Why…why lie about it anymore_…' his inhibitions were going… '_SHE'S not lying anymore… I…can't…lie anymore_…' He was losing any capacity to hold his arms up…he clung to the pink cloth of her jumper in his final moments of desperation… _'I…Helga…I…love…this. I…I love…y—_'

_MWUACK!_

And suddenly the electricity, the passion, the fire, the heat, the touching, the lips, the moans, the sighs were all gone…replaced by tingles and air and deep panting from the two people in the small locker.

A sudden change in the situation that was the result of the fact that, well…Helga had just plain _needed to breathe_! Needed some small break from it all! No one should feel that happy for that long! Indeed, only the very real fear that her ten-year-old heart might burst from sheer and total elation, leaving Arnold to have to get the school nurse and eventually leading to some very AWKWARD questions about what the two kids were 'doing in that locker in the first place' had made the young girl end this moment of kissing with her beloved…

And now Arnold and Helga just stood there, Helga leaning against the inside of the locker door and Arnold leaning against the back of the locker…both taking deep and quick inhales and exhales, each just barely able to make out the other's flushed face in the dim light from the hallway…

Eventually, the breaths slowed…and then quieted to normal.

Helga swallowed and looked to Arnold.

Arnold swallowed and looked down at Helga's shoes.

No one blinked.

And then, eventually, Helga cleared her throat and adjusted her (quite 'askew') jumper a little, and announced, in a voice trying to sound in control (but that was actually quite obviously shaky, to say the least), the only thing she could think of to say now that all of that was over. (She knew it was absurd, by the way, but she just didn't have anything else up her sleeve at the moment). "W-Well, um…g-good…" She straightened up a bit and crossed her arms over her chest… "Then let…let this be a lesson to you then, Footb—A-Arnold…" A small shiver randomly passed through her spine at saying his name—an after effect of all that passion, she guessed. She just did her best to ignore it as she continued speaking, still just barely managing a scowl…"N-No idle threats from Helga G. Pataki…And if you ever almost make us late again, you'll get worse, you little angel—little SHRIMP!"

She knew the fact that she was blushing like crazy and trying to adjust her hair and dress from the near mauling she'd received from the boy in front of her…plus the fact that she was so blatantly not acknowledging what had just happened…(plus the fact that she had nearly called him her 'little angel')…was all making this little announcement of hers sound a bit 'weak' to say the least… But Helga figured that a locker two minutes before class started was NOT the best place to have an epic discussion about 'certain things'. And who KNEW what the heck his sudden actions were about anyway? 'S_ure_…' she thought quickly to herself as she waited to see if he'd go along with her in pretending nothing out of the ordinary had just happened, _'…Maybe he's 'secretly suddenly in love with me'…OR maybe he just figured doing that BACK to me would be the only way to give me my fill and stop me from doing it to him in the first place anymore… No, I've gotta gauge things more with him…just keep observing him and waiting until there's proof that he…_' And then she just let out a sigh. '_Oh who am I kidding—there's no way he'd ever…No way he'd ever…'_

"I…"

He was speaking. Helga shut her thoughts up and her eyes instantly snapped to looking at her beloved's poor, shy, nervous, blushing, adorable little face.

"I…" Arnold tried once again, though his voice cracked quite obviously this time… The poor, flustered boy swallowed and did his best to try again. "I..." And then he just blinked and looked down and to the side, digging his foot into the bottom of the locker and continuing rather shyly, "I'm…sorry, Helga. Y-you're right…I shouldn't have made us late for class like that, heh, heh…" He looked up at her sheepishly. "And…And I'll remember…No idle threats." He straightened his sweater a little as he talked and ran his fingers through his hair once or twice, having become aware due to Helga's 'fixing up' of herself that _he_ might be looking a little disheveled as well.

These few words from her beloved processed, and then Helga took a very deep (very GRATEFUL) breath and then let it out slowly…as she fully absorbed Arnold's 'going along with her' observation and the immense sensation of personal relief that came along with it. "Uh…good…" she replied back in a slightly less nervous sounding voice, "G-Glad you see it my way, Football Head."

Arnold took in and let out a deep breath himself…happy she wasn't questioning him about what he'd done to her…He blushed, unable to even think about it right now. "Yeah…Of course, Helga. Whatever you say…" He gave a small nod.

Helga gave a small nod back to him and then, with a swallow, slowly turned to open the locker door and get them both OUT of this awkward 'after' moment together. "That's right, Arnoldo…" she added with a touch more of her usual sass, already anticipating the freedom to come and the inevitable return of the status quo… "...Whatever_ I_ say. And don't you ever forget it, Football He—"

_CLINK CLINK_

Helga's eyes went completely wide. She froze.

'_Locker doors…don't open from the inside…do they? Oh…my…'_

"S-Something wrong, Helga?" Arnold piped up from behind her at her sudden pause in speaking…and at the fact that the door wasn't open yet so that he could wish her a quick goodbye and then run to the boys room and splash cold water on his face and look directly at his reflection in the mirror and repeat to himself over and over in a (futile) whisper that he did NOT like kissing Helga G. Pataki, that he did NOT have an attraction to her, and that, most of all, her name and word 'love' should NOT occur in the same sentence in his head EVER again unless the phrase 'do not' was tossed in there somehow! Because this whole thing was INSANE, and CRAZY, and made NO sense whatsoever! Yeah…that was the plan! Denial! It would work! It HAD to work…(and yet he couldn't deny that a rather large part of himself knew that it _wouldn't_ work…and that a small, deeper part of himself didn't WANT it to work anyway…And who in their right mind _would_? After all, she was…) Arnold practically shook his head to shut up his thoughts from trying to go down the path of daydreams about her YET AGAIN in the middle of all of this!

"L-Locker door's, uh…" the sound of her voice, nearly cracking as she spoke, brought him out of his thoughts fully… "It d-doesn't open from the inside…Heh…You know, like in those sitcoms, when a geek gets bullied and shoved into a locker…he has to wait for one of his cool friends to come along and open it from the outside…heh, heh…" She turned around, terror in her eyes, and leaned back against the door again, her gaze darting around desperately.

Arnold felt his heart thunder in his chest at this piece of information. '_Doesn't open from the in…the inside…_' His eyes went wide as well and his jaw trembled a little. "O-Oh…" he barely squeaked out, "So we're…s-stuck in here…together… then…" His face burned with heat.

Helga swallowed in the semi-darkness. "Y-yeah…" Her eyes barely managed to fall to those of the boy before her. Stuck in here…with Arnold…the air already so warm and close from what they'd just done together…her lips still cool from the moisture of his kiss…Trapped pressed against the door of this locker with Arnold less than a foot away from her…

She shook her had instantly to clear it from these thoughts and did her best to scowl again. "I-I mean…not if _I_ have anything to say about it!" And with this sudden firm announcement the girl instantly turned back to the door, grabbed the lock mechanism on the inside and began to tug at it with all of her might! "Stupid…lock…just…BUDGE…already!" she growled through gritted her teeth, trying her hardest to set them free from this horribly nightmarish moment of confrontation!

"Helga…" piped up Arnold timidly from behind her after her first several pulls didn't succeed…a small idea coming to his head.

Helga was trying to ignore him though—to forget about his presence…So she didn't turn and didn't acknowledge him…or the sound of her name coming from his delectable little mouth…

'_FOCUS!'_ Helga screamed at herself. She gave the lock a few more good yanks. "Come ON! Just GIVE!"

"Helga…" the boy behind her tried once more in his shy little voice.

'_He's not here, he's not here…Just focus on the lock…' _ "GRR! Just OPEN!"

'Helga!"

"AHH!"

Helga jumped and spun around as that announcement of her name had come coupled with one of Arnold's warm hands suddenly clasping onto one of her shoulders!

"Wh-What?" she squeaked out in terror, breathing heavily, her eyes wide…and his eyes so freaking close…

She watched Arnold swallow. His lips moved in the darkness for a moment, and then he found his voice. "Can…Can I help, Helga?" he asked sincerely and in his former calm, level, innocent tone.

Helga just blinked once or twice as she let the question sink in…Then she scowled at him and shoved his hand off of her body. She spoke in her usual no-nonsense, no-duh, matter of fact voice. "Uh…since both sets of our hands couldn't exactly fit on that little lock, then NO, Head boy! Crimeny! Now, I'll just get back to handling things, if that's alright with _you_, bucko! Sheesh!" She finished with an eye roll and was about to turn her attentions back to the door in question.

Yet, Helga paused in just a touch of surprise before doing so as, out of the corner of her eye, she caught a bit of a frustrated look come to Arnold's face. "Well," he suddenly started in a slightly more peeved tone, making her continue to refrain from turning back around, "_Actually_ I just thought that since you couldn't force it off by yourself then maybe…maybe I…" A touch of nervousness came to his features…but he obviously tried to play it off as he finished (quietly, once again…) "…Maybe if I grabbed onto you while you were pulling and we pulled _together_…it would work." Hey, HE wanted out just as badly as SHE did…and combining their strength was the only logical way to do that…even if it meant, well…He tried not to think about it. The blood pounded into his face.

Arnold gave a hesitant glance up as he finished speaking, only to see Helga's scowl remain for a second longer…

And then he watched the girl in question blush very VERY hotly!

Because, as much as Helga didn't care to admit it, Arnold was right: she couldn't seem to wrench the lock loose on her own. So it was either him pulling her pulling the lock…or them staying in here…alone…together…

And SHE could NOT keep up the act too much longer under these circumstances!

'_Crimeny, his kisses are so delicious! I think I could live on just them for the rest of my life if I had to! And it's not helping that I WANT to…'_

"F-Fine…let's just do it and get it over with, okay?" Helga finally just mumbled in defeat back to him, not looking to Arnold's eyes.

The young boy felt his heart skip a serious beat at her acquiescence to his plan…and then he just gave her a small nod to show that he was ready. They were going to get out of here. He was going to hold her…and then they would get out of here. '_Oh boy…'_ He let out a breath.

Helga caught his nod out of the corner of her eye…and then with a gulp slowly turned away from him and placed her hands on the lock mechanism once more…

Very soon she felt Arnold's arms come tightly, warmly, securely around her waist….his face right near her neck… The image of him leaning up and gently kissing her right near her hair line…going over her shoulder…and then around to her chin and then cheek suddenly flashed through Helga's mind and she actually felt her legs wobble. '_N-No, Helga, FOCUS! Get OUT of here! NOW! Daydream later but just GET OUT OF HERE NOW FIRST!'_ Her scowl returned and she gripped the lock as tightly as possible. "You ready, Football Head?" she managed firmly…trying her best not to let the utter pleasure she was experiencing thanks to Arnold holding her like that shine through in her tone.

Arnold had been about to ask her why it had felt like she almost shook for a second in his arms…but he stopped at the sound of her voice bringing his focus back on track. '_No, just…just get out here first. That's what's most important…Nothing else…Not…Not even the fact that she's…Wow, she's warm to hold…And her hair feels so soft against my face…And she's…YOU HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE __NOW__! YOU DO NOT LOVE HELGA! JUST GET OUT OF HERE AND EVERYTHING WILL MAKE SENSE AGAIN!_' Arnold closed his eyes tightly as he finished these last thoughts, and then managed to reply to the girl in his arms in a cracked voice, "R-Ready, Helga!"

She let out a breath. "Okay then…on the count of three. One…two…_three_!"

The two kids, pulling and holding and gripping with all of their might, gave the biggest jerk backward they could!

…And instantly flew away from the locker door and slammed hard together against the back of their small space!

And now, as they opened their eyes, the two children found themselves squished and half sitting against the back of the locker…Arnold's arms around Helga from behind…and Helga holding them tightly in place…and Arnold's chin and mouth were right in the crux of her collar bone…

His lips were so close to her skin that she could feel the warmth of his breath. "G-Guess…" she tried to speak, to be casual…It was hard. Very hard. "Guess that d-didn't work out too…well…" she finally got out in a whisper… His breath on her skin was…it was like the ghost of a kiss, teasing her with memories of the real thing.

"N-No…I…I guess not…" the young man just behind her managed to whisper back…as he was slowly and seriously becoming fully aware of the feeling of his chin resting on the soft skin near the base of her neck… And he was holding her against his body, against his heart…in his arms…forever. She loved him….and he wanted to…

It was dark. They were alone. They had obviously already decided that everything here and now was in the 'heat of the moment' anyway. And what exactly would she do if he went for it, anyway… 'pound him' again?

"Arnold…" Helga barely whispered…and he could feel that she was obviously nervous…her shallow breathing, the slight tremble as she'd spoken… "Maybe…maybe we could…try again or something…" She barely knew what she was saying. Her thoughts were getting fuzzy and dull and…how he was holding her was just heaven. She both wanted to leave him and didn't want to leave him more than anything in the world.

Arnold took a deep breath in and then let one out. He felt her shift a little as his exhale reached the surface of her skin. He swallowed hard and blushed furiously…but went for it nonetheless. "Hey…Helga?" he finally whispered back.

"Uh…Uh huh?" She turned her head just a little toward his in slight curiosity, trying to catch the corner of one of his eyes in the corner of one of hers.

"We…" Arnold took in another breath and let another one out, just barely making eye contact with her. "We could just wait for someone…" he finally suggested shyly, his eyes glancing down and away from her gaze that was trying to look at him… "…_together_…" came the last (and most meaningful) word.

The slight blush Helga could make out on one of Arnold's cheeks made her blush in return. "I…" Especially as his 'plan B'…and what it really meant…became clear to her. "I…" she felt her heart flutter…and her blush deepen… "I guess we…could…" she finally managed in a whisper.

Arnold's head was facing Helga's from behind, and Helga had managed, by this point, to turn herself enough that all she needed was a little shift more for her head to be facing Arnold's… And so now they faced each other, boy still holding girl around the waist, and girl still pressing into boy's body for all the sparks and spins it caused inside of her…And it didn't help that their bodies seemed to meld and fit so perfectly together… '_Kind of like our lips…'_ she managed to think to herself with a smile. Speaking of that…the two of them were maybe…a lip's distance apart…

And they knew it was going to happen again…the thing that had just happened mere minutes ago…the thing they were afraid of.

But they'd…they'd sort it out later, because for now they…for now…they…

It would be so…soft. So sweet. So perfectly lovely.

Their breaths met and…

"AHH!"

"AHHH!"

"Um…hi…"

A bright light instantly flooded Arnold and Helga's eyes, and the two just screamed and jumped and clung against each other in shock, panting in fright (and…in 'other' emotions too of course…)!

It took a second but then Helga's eyes adjusted to light…

…And she FUMED! "**BRAINY**!"

The screech was so loud from the girl still in his arms that it made Arnold actually _cringe_.

Meanwhile, the geeky kid in question just stood over his two classmates in the doorway of the locker with his usual small creepy smile…but also a slight blush. "Um…yeah…" he wheezed at them again.

Helga instantly tried to fly at him, obviously out for blood, though Arnold did his best to restrain her with his continued grip around her waist. "What are you DOING here you little INSECT?" the flustered and frustrated girl raged from within the locker (not having it in her to do too much to break Arnold's hold…and subconsciously not really wanting to, of course). And yet still her temper seethed! Brainy opening that door…it was like…like being ripped from heaven to the bowels of the underworld by her own personal lifelong stalker/tormentor! No, even worse—she hadn't just been ripped from one extreme to another. She'd been ripped from the utter peak of the satisfaction of all of her amorous feelings and forced into…dullness, the mundane, the normal…Right from this place being a cozy little dream-come-true love nest with her beloved to it just being an average old aluminum locker. It was MADDENING! "_GRR_!" she growled in Brainy's direction, trying to go for him again with a fresh burst of adrenaline all of a sudden!

Meanwhile, her beloved was still doing his best to keep from destroying the poor boy who had interrupted them. "Helga!" Arnold soothed her from behind, still holding tight and doing his best to talk her down as he went on, "I'm sure he's just here because—"

"Uh…_my_ locker…"

Helga froze. Arnold froze.

Yeah, those three words of explanation from Brainy pretty much did it for them.

Helga's rage and anger and adrenaline rushes all ceased. The young blonde girl cleared her throat, carefully and quickly removed Arnold's (now limp) arms from around her body, and then used the edge of the locker to stand and walk out into the hall past Brainy. "Ah…I see…" She merely replied in a level tone in response to this bit of information about whose locker she'd been making out with Arnold in. She then let out a sigh and turned back in the direction of the open locker. She addressed its owner first. "Well, Brainy, I _am_ sorry about taking up your time, and your…locker…" she blushed just a tiny bit but managed to keep her cool as she then moved her glance down to Arnold (who was still half sitting in the bottom of the locker) and spoke, still seeming all business. "Coming, Football Head?" she asked simply.

Arnold, whose face was a fiery red at this point in his and Helga's escapade, just gave her a small trembling nod after a second or two, and then slowly, clumsily managed to get himself standing as well, trying desperately not to think about how embarrassing this whole thing was. "R-Right…um…Yeah, I'm coming, Helga…" he called to her, and then Arnold stepped out of the locker as well. Dusting himself off a bit, he likewise glanced at the geeky asthmatic boy beside them. "S-Sorry, Brainy…" he added sincerely.

Brainy just continued standing there and wheezing.

Helga rolled her eyes. "Come on, Arnold…" She grabbed the blonde boy's wrist and began to pull him along down the hall toward their classroom. "The bell's about to ring…"

"Uh…" Arnold managed after a few surprised blinks before he began to keep pace with her, "Okay…Helga…"

The two children disappeared down the hallway…

...Brainy just watched them go.

And now Brainy just took in a wheezy breath and let out a wheezy breath (as per usual), turned back toward his locker, and shut the door.

And then he then let out a sigh and rolled his eyes, and with a small shake of his head couldn't help but think to himself after the little scene he'd just witnessed, _'And people think that __I__ don't know how to express my true feelings…' _

* * *

"Alright, one more time just so we're clear, Arnold—if anyone asks, we're running a little late because you're a do-gooder little jerk and because I had to teach you a lesson, and that's why _you_ look as messed up as _you_ do and why _I_ look as messed up as _I_ do." She was referring to their still slightly tousled clothes and hair, of course…But with mere seconds until the bell was about to ring, neither child could very well go fix themselves up completely in the restroom or something just yet…at least, not without actually ending up being late to class and arousing even more suspicion about their whereabouts together this morning. "And you learned your lesson and you're sorry and it'll NEVER happen again! Got it?" finished Helga very forcefully, not about to take anything but total compliance from the boy before her, whose stupid defiant streak (combined of course with the fact that he was SO irresistible) had gotten them into this whole 'locker' mess in the first place.

Arnold, his back currently pinned against the wall by the scowling and flushed looking Helga who had just spoken these words, just nodded his head quickly with wide, almost fearful eyes. "Yes, Helga. I…I understand. Completely," he assured her with a swallow.

"_Good_!" She jerked away from him, causing the young boy to fall forward a little from the wall though he quickly righted himself. "And don't you ever say another word different about it!" Helga added defensively. "We…" she swallowed and he noticed a touch of that nervousness come back into her eyes…and a touch of a blush come back to her cheeks that morning… "We're just…very prone to 'heat of the moment' things, you and I…heh…" she 'casually' explained away, glancing up and to the side innocently, "I-I mean, you make me so mad sometimes with all your stupid Football Headed stuff that I just….can't help myself, you know?"

Helga let her gaze return to Arnold's, looking at him with more than a little desperation in her eyes…because she knew full well that if he 'bought it' this time (just like when he'd 'bought it' after her confession), it would just be him entirely letting her off the hook with obviously no trace of doubt in his mind that she loved him… A minute long heat of the moment kiss was one thing…but five to ten minutes of passionate necking in a locker was quite another, after all. But even though it would be a complete lie if he agreed with her now…she NEEDED that lie. Because she just…just couldn't talk about this! Not here! Not now! Not so suddenly like this! Because when she and Arnold talked…like 'big time' talked…it needed to be slow and real and gentle and grown-up…and absolutely NOT in 'the heat of the moment'. (Of course if something 'heat of the moment' happened AFTER the grown-up talk, well…Helga wouldn't exactly complain about that…) Helga felt herself blush a tiny bit more at the idea and did her best to put any such fantasies on the backburner for now: the situation at hand still had to be dealt with, after all.

Arnold, meanwhile, still just standing near the wall, his arms behind his back, just absorbed Helga's little explanation (and practically _plea_) and then glanced down shyly and swallowed…Finally he took a breath and managed to speak, nodding his head once more that morning at her in his nervousness. "R-Right…I…I know, Helga… It was just the 'heat of the moment' and I just really make you mad sometimes, and…and it…it probably doesn't help things when I get, um, 'mad' back at you…" The blood pumped into his face as an image flashed into his mind of how he must have looked back there with Helga pinned against that locker door like that, arms wrapped around her, sighing and moaning and kissing… He gave a fearful swallow and did his best to push past the mental picture for now. "B-Because…you don't really l-love me…you hate me…And I…have to remember that…right?" he managed to finish, and then gave a hesitant glance back up at her.

Helga blushed brightly at the familiar question, and then just quickly nodded and gave a sheepish smile, so very grateful that he was letting her off the hook once more in their lives! "R-Right…I hate you… A-And you hate me too, of course, heh, heh…" She waited for Arnold to agree with her so that they could have one more very tense and awkward laugh about this whole thing and then just go into the classroom and resume their normal lives as bully and bullied.

Instead, though…

"I never hated you _before_, Helga…and I don't hate you _now_. I like you."

The words were out of his mouth quickly and before Helga could really process them he'd placed a small kiss upon her cheek and pulled back…a blush upon his features…and a small smile upon his face.

Helga's jaw dropped…and even trembled a little.

Arnold, meanwhile, his heart fluttering at this small, brave little action he'd just managed to do, couldn't help but smile even more at the reaction he'd gotten out of her to it all. He let out a sigh, feeling a lot calmer all of a sudden. "Come on, Helga…" he placed a hand on the door handle. "Ladies first…" He turned the handle and gave the door a gentle push ajar…and then he just couldn't help himself. '_I know I'm not supposed to be thinking this but…she's kind of…cute when she's surprised…_' He blushed just a little bit more…but the smile didn't leave his face.

Helga just remained frozen…feeling her heart beat like mad in her chest and the cool moisture of his lip print on her cheek…and the heated blush already building up underneath it. "Um…" she barely managed to stutter out in a squeak. '_He…he likes me? He's __always__ liked me…_' Helga knew that fact, of course, from overhearing Arnold at the end of that last costume party Rhonda had had…but… '_And he __still__…likes me…__**now**_?' Even after the confession and the kiss and things like this whole 'locker thing'…? Her eyes went even wider. '_So maybe…does that maybe mean…since he's okay with all of that stuff, that…that he…he…' _The very idea was almost too much for her shocked mind to bear.

Arnold, seeing Helga still in a bit of paralysis (thanks to a simple kiss and a compliment from him, he couldn't help but note once more to himself with just a touch of pride), just shook his head a little in amusement and then reached forward with his free hand to grasp one of hers. "Helga…ladies first, okay?" He spoke sweetly and gestured with his eyes toward the still slightly ajar door. He waited and a second or two later the girl before him blinked a couple of times as she came back to reality.

"O-Oh, uh…right, right…Class…" was the only thing to manage to come out of Helga's mouth. Then she swallowed and put on a weak scowl, and finished with (trying to hold on to at least _some_ of her pride here, after all), "And, yeah, Helga G. Pataki always goes first, Football Head…a-and don't you forget it!"

Arnold just did his best not to laugh, gently slipping his hand from hers and putting it behind his back like a gentleman. "Of course, Helga…" he gave a small nod. "And I 'wouldn't dream' of ever making us late to class again…" He smiled…and winked…and then pushed the door completely open (and let out a small, private breath of relief that it felt like the balance between them was truly being restored.)

Helga could have just _killed_ Arnold for putting her through a smile and a kiss and a handhold and a suggestive wink of all things (not to mention his 'interesting' final words to her) and then just suddenly exposing her to the eyes of all of the students in the room like that where she had to go right into bully mode right away…or she could have _kissed_ him for it (after all…she _had_ gotten a smile and a kiss and a handhold and a suggestive wink complete with parting words out of the deal…). She just settled for sighing and almost shaking her head as she walked past her beloved and into the classroom….and almost smiling to herself despite her usual scowl on her face. Killing Arnold or kissing Arnold…there really were still times when she was just so torn between the two.

'_Oh Arnold…what a dream boat!_' she finally couldn't resist thinking to herself with an internal girlish sigh at how charming and sweet he'd suddenly been about everything…('_Why bother acting like I could ever get angry enough to harm a hair on his perfect head anyway...? He knows now just as well as I do that when it comes right down to it, I'll kiss him long before I'll kill him every time_…') And besides he really _had_ been such a sweetheart about this whole thing…So maybe…maybe he really _did_…maybe he really _could_ have… 'feelings'…for her…just like she had for him…?

Helga let the blissful thought linger for a perfect moment.

Until a strong and familiar twinge of doubt and disbelief suddenly went through her, shattering the idea to just pieces of her usual lovesick fantasies. '_Still…_' her scowl wavered a little as she finished walking across the room to her desk…her thoughts deepening, '_maybe…maybe he's just being a gentleman or something corny like that…or maybe I've just confused his football headed little brain so much that he doesn't even know what he's doing anymore. But yet he…But then…Oh…Oh __why__ is he so __confusing__…?' _She rolled her eyes a little as she finally took her usual seat in the back of the classroom. '_Eh…maybe I'll talk to Phoebe about it later—she's usually pretty sharp about these things…Besides, I should probably get around to mentioning the whole 'confession' thing to her anyway_…' Helga let out a sigh and rubbed her temples… And then she ripped a few strips of paper from her notebooks, balled them up, took her trusty spitball shooter straw from her desk…and smiled to herself… _'Oh well…Bottom line, I guess, is that I got another kiss from Arnold…No sense over thinking that TOO much._' She shrugged. '_Might as well suck it up for now and just get prepared for the rest of the day…_' She waited for Arnold, who was finally slowly making his way across the classroom, to sit at his desk before she would begin her with one of her more 'traditional' methods of expressing her love to him…

* * *

Watching Helga walk off to her desk, Arnold had just smiled to himself a little more and then stepped inside of the classroom as well, allowing the door to shut behind them. His intrigued smile in her direction lingered for several seconds. _'It's like she loves me __and__ she hates me…_' He almost shook his head at how silly that probably sounded…even though in a weird way it did kind of make sense to him. He let out a sigh as a happy thought occurred to him. _'But…at least she knows now that __I__ don't hate __her__…_' Arnold, slowly commencing the walk to his own desk, considered for a moment the idea of pushing his thought one step further… of maybe saying something definite to himself finally about his own opinion in this 'love' thing between himself and Helga…But the concept only made him blush and shake his head to himself slightly. No, not just yet…It was too much… This was all happening so fast, feeling so crazy…This needed thought and reason and talking…He couldn't just…couldn't just go on pure 'heat of the moment' emotion! That…No…

'_But…'_

…A small smile came back to his face as he sat down at his desk in the front of the room...and for a split second just let the pure emotion of it all wash over him, and nothing more. His heart raced. '_But…I…I…'_

"Hey, man! Where the heck have you been? I heard Helga yelling at you in the hallway and no one's seen you since then and…Arnold do you have a fever or something? You look like you're burning up!"

This sudden and sharp interruption of Arnold's thoughts and feelings (and sudden observation of the fact that his face was a distinct reddish hue…though from something quite different than 'fever') by his best friend's voice made Arnold practically jump in his seat! "_Um_…" he squeaked out with a nervous gulp, and instantly whipped around to face Gerald who was sitting at the desk beside him...resting his head in his hand and giving him a rather strange look. "N-Nothing…nowhere…I-I mean…" Arnold stuttered at first…but then he took a breath and did his best to speak calmly… He cleared his throat. "I mean…Helga was angry with me for making out—uh, for making HER LATE to class, so…so she said she was going to pound me and shoved me in a locker but it…it turned out fine. Don't worry about it, Gerald." Arnold gave his friend a reassuring smile and PRAYED that just this once in his life he would be able to sort of not tell the truth and actually get away with it (though he figured the fact that he had started off by accidentally nearly blurting out the term 'making out' probably wasn't going to help matters much).

Arnold watched as Gerald kept giving him that funny look for another second or two…but then the tall haired boy just smiled. "Mmmm mmm _mmm_…" Gerald just shook his head, still grinning, "Man, you are _lucky_ when it comes to that girl…You always JUST manage to avoid getting it from her—you know that?" He smirked a little, obviously happy that his best friend had 'gotten out of another one.'

A warm wash of relief came over Arnold at Gerald's accepting response to his 'not exactly truth'. And then a small, dreamy smile threatened very much to come to Arnold's face as he couldn't help but glance down and whisper under his breath with a sigh in response to the idea of always just managing to avoid 'getting it from Helga'… "Not always Gerald…not always…"

"Huh?" Gerald's voice suddenly broke through Arnold's near daydreams again.

A small laugh just escaped Arnold and he shook his head and just sighed and looked to Gerald again, figuring it might be okay to 'not exactly tell the truth' at least once more today…"I…I said, you're right, Gerald…I guess I just…keep getting 'lucky'…"

"Alright, students, time to start another special day of class!" Mr. Simmons instantly announced from the front of the room, thus ending any further classroom conversations (which Arnold was rather happy for…He didn't want to accidentally stumble into slipping up about Helga's secret again, anyway…And also he wanted to be alone with his thoughts on the matter for a little while…)

Although…Arnold 'didn't exactly complain' when a spitball…or two…or fifteen bounced against his 'football' head as the day progressed. After all, they were small…moist…from her mouth…Kind of like little kisses, really… His head did its best to ignore that concept…while his heart warmed up a little more in response to it with each successive 'little kiss' from Helga. It even made (though he kept trying to fight it) one of those little shivers go through him like back in the closet, eventually… especially as he imagined (though he tried (and in vain) to deny to himself that it was on his mind)… 'real kisses' from her all over his head and neck and…

'_I'll…I'll talk to her about all of this later…For right now though, I…_' Another hit and another shiver, _'For right now though…at least I'm not lying to myself anymore about my dark side…liking this…loving this_…' He let out a deep sigh…and let himself get lost in a daydream or two of what might have happened if…if the two of them really had remained trapped in that locker together…

* * *

**A/N:**

Well, that's all! Hope you guys enjoyed the one shot ^_^ As usual, please review because they make me smile and inspire me like crazy ;) Love all of you! And thanks again KASUKapl for another great comic ;)

And as usual…

Happy Reading!

~Azure129 aka Jenna :)

(AXH FOREVER!)


	2. Trapped In a Closet

**A/N:**

Hello, lovelies! 8D Aw man, I've been so crazy busy and I've missed writing like crazy, lol! Anyway, here's a sequel I've been dying to do for a while and I hope you all enjoy ^w^ Especially you, KASUKapl ;) This is totally for you, lol! And as for everyone else, if you don't want to refresh yourself on the first part of this story by having to read the 10,000 word first chapter, you could always check out KASUKapl's comic again for a quick refresher ;) I'm putting the link below! Just take out the spaces! ^w^ And as always please, please, please review! Thank you!

**http : / / kasukapl . deviantart . com / art / Trapped-on-a-locker-182302107?q = &qo =**

**~*TRAPPED IN A CLOSET*~**

* * *

"U-Um…Helga…? Are you sure I can't at least carry your books or something? I-I just want to help…"

Helga G. Pataki let out a deep, frustrated sigh and rolled her eyes away from Arnold with a scowl (and did her best not to blush too much at the eyes of their classmates she could trailing right behind her and her new little companion, looking at the two of them and maybe giving an eyebrow raise or a quick whisper or two at the strangeness of the sight of Arnold and Helga actually together…and Arnold looking so…chipper about it!) "No," she began firmly, instantly pulling herself away from her fears about public humiliation to try and shut Arnold down yet again this afternoon ( 'Crimeny, slamming against the back of that locker this morning must have rattled his brains or something! Idiot…who I love so! Ah!'). "Stay the _heck_ away from my books and stay the _heck_ away from me, Football Head!" Helga growled to him as firmly as she possibly could, scowling right into his bright, happy, green eyes.

About her fifth refusal so far to him ever since the bell had rung ten minutes ago signaling the end of class finally did succeed in making a little frown come to Arnold's features for a moment…but in the end it certainly did not deter the optimistic smile from then quickly returning to his face or him from continuing his perusal of his sudden desire to be 'Helga's special helper' or whatever was going on with him right now. He even chuckled a little as he replied, still walking right up close beside her, "Helga, you're funny sometimes. And well, okay, if I can't hold some of your books or walk you home or maybe do some homework with you," (these had been some of his small requests so far during their journey down the hall together), "…could I maybe, um…sit with you on the bus? O-Or at least walk you to it?" He looked at her very sincerely, his stomach secretly all knotted up inside just as it had been while waiting for her response to _every_ request he had made of her so far.

They rounded a corner in the hall and Helga could practically feel herself shaking with anger and passion at his continued persistence in this public display! On the one hand she was FURIOUS that Arnold wasn't taking the hint that him randomly doting all over her in the hallways (and after the two of them had more or less been seen to enter the classroom together this morning, no less) was a very suspicious thing and that he needed to cool it before any of their classmates started getting any 'ideas'…any 'Arnold and Helga sitting in a tree…' ideas…But on the other hand, with how he was acting right now…it was almost, well…boyfriendish. He wanted to walk with her and hold her stuff and he kept smiling and acting happy around her…It was like how he had been acting with her ever since her confession and up until that 'locker' thing this morning but in hyper drive! It was like…dare she think it…he…was sort of…smitten with her…a little…maybe… (The word 'smitten' was about as far as Helga would let her thoughts go for now…). Anyway, though, she figured that the very real chance of their peers suspecting something between them was a LOT more important than her pursuing a longshot chance of Arnold actually liking her…_like_ liking her…a little…and so she just continued to go with her plan of harshly persisting in her refusal of his advances. 'He's just being nice…He's just being nice…And if he wants to be nice the next time we're alone or something then that's fine but NOT NOW, for Pete's sake!'

Helga looked over at his eager countenance with a scowling look and answered back to his question about walking her to the bus or sitting with her on it (in a tone she was at least trying to keep more firm than harsh for his sake), "ARNOLD! For crying out loud, what part of leave me the heck alone are you not getting! What, do I have a sign on my back or something that says it's national 'kiss Helg—' uh… ' k-kiss _up to_ Helga' day? Sheesh!" She resettled some books under one of her arms and turned away from him with a, "Hmph!" Inside she was a nervous wreck. '_You almost said 'National Kiss Helga Day'…You're an idiot.'_

As for Arnold, meanwhile, his sixth flat out refusal from Helga for him to be allowed to have ANYTHING to do with her life not only prevented him from consciously catching that little slip of the tongue she had just made about kissing, but it also caused him to finally stop following at her heels for just a moment… A deeper frown came to his face as he watched her still stubbornly walking on. But then he just took a breath, did his best to put his smile back on his face, and instantly raced to catch up with her again. He knew at this point that he probably really was bugging her a little but…Well, was it so wrong to want to spend time with a girl whom you had just admitted this morning to liking? '_N-Not __like__ liking of course…Heh…'_ Arnold reminded himself. But he had indeed told her that he liked her this morning before they had entered the classroom and so, after thinking about it all a bit during the day, now that the final bell had rung Arnold had come to the conclusion that maybe…since he liked her…and there was no harm in that…maybe they could spend more time together…And he really did want to make it up to her for pushing her buttons a little bit lately…and for kind of…using her affection to maybe take some liberties with her…And also he…well, he…There were…things…and…feelings…and…he…Arnold let out a little determined sigh and pushed his slightly deeper than usual thoughts about the girl at his side away from his mind yet again today.

'_I just want to walk a girl to the bus…sit with her on it…maybe walk her to her door…and maybe hold something if he needs me too…a-and if she invited me inside for a snack or something I probably wouldn't exactly say no…That's completely normal and fine and doesn't mean…whatever it is other people might think it means if they knew about it…!'_ With this reassurance to himself Arnold was finally now back walking beside Helga again, a look as bright and hopeful as ever back upon his face. And yet, though he had reminded himself why he wanted to do this even if it meant a lot of rejection before Helga might finally say yes, Arnold likewise had to recall that his helpful requests didn't seem to be winning many points with her…Why couldn't she be like other girls and eat up things like that_? 'But…Helga's not like other girls, I guess…That's part of why I like her…So…if being extra nice to her isn't working then…'_ Arnold really considered, then blushed a little as a quick thought occurred to him…but then thought about it some more…And then he let out a sigh, cringed a tiny bit, and prayed inside that she wouldn't kill him for going out on the limb he was about to go out on.

"Um…Helga?" Arnold addressed her again…this time a lot more nervously than optimistically.

Helga just sighed and looked at him with a scowl yet again. "_What_? And DON'T ask me another stupid question about getting all chummy with me, geekbait!"

Arnold hesitated for just a second more and then, getting a pace or two ahead of her (and summing up ALL of his courage), he stuck out his foot as they turned another corner together, causing Helga to trip forward over it and completely onto the floor!

"Whoa!" Helga exclaimed as she hit the ground…and then she…blinked a few times…saw her books all scattered around her, saw her hands pressed against the floor that her face was mere inches from, felt her legs spread out behind her…in short she realized her new current position…and then her mind clicked to the memory of a millisecond BEFORE she had ended up like this and she realized what had caused it all…And then an utterly shocked and confused Helga G. Pataki looked up at Arnold with wide eyes and a dropped jaw.

"U-Um…wh-whoops…how, um…how clumsy of you…? Heh…" was all the young boy in question weakly and with a touch of terror said back to her, blushing quite a bit and tugging at his collar and looking all nervous and barely making eye contact with her at all. His heart pounded and he chalked it up to fear alone…though he knew there was something else there too.

"Oooooo…" now came in chorus from the kids all throughout the hallway who had just witnessed this spectacle and who had likewise pretty much frozen in their activities in wonder at it.

And then all of these peers instantly burst into laughter.

Helga's face took on a jolt of scarlet in humiliation and then instantly she was up and, acting on total survival instinct, she whipped around and then grabbed Arnold by the collar and practically hoisted him up from the floor.

Her eyes were darkly narrowed in a scowl.

The hall went quiet in wonder and curiosity again…

"I…am going to KILL you…" she hissed acidly, right into his face!

Arnold's eyes were just wide. He didn't say a word. He didn't breathe. He just hoped…

Helga knew that, just like with this morning, she would now have to drag Arnold's scrawny and problematic butt into a private place to make a show of 'beating him to a pulp'. '_I am getting SO sick of this! Crimeny, I have better things to do with my time than cleaning up his stupid messes!'_ For a moment, her mind threatened to suggest that she herself could probably stop these annoying and awkward moments of having to pretend to pound Arnold if she would just own up to the fact that she loved him in public…but of course right now she was in NO mood for a lecture from the faint voice of her conscience (especially since that voice had always had a habit of sounding just a little like Arnold's).

For a split second Helga was going to go for a locker again for Arnold's 'beating', her own being conveniently right near them considering that last corner they had turned/she had tripped around, but then of course she recalled the semi fiasco that THAT decision had led to this morning and had to reject the idea completely. _'No, I need a different private place—somewhere with enough space that nothing awkward can happen and distract me from really just ripping into him about this since using kissing this morning to teach him a lesson about bugging me apparently didn't stick—just my luck! …Yeah, I need somewhere less intimate and somewhere that doesn't belong to one of our friends so we can't randomly be interrupted, and most importantly somewhere that WON'T lock us in when I shut the door behind us!'_ Still scowling and still holding Arnold hoisted up, she scanned the hall really quickly and then her eyes fell on a solution to her dilemma. _'Janitors closet. My old office. __Perfect__.'_ And then with an almost malicious smile she proceeded to drag a still in-shock Arnold across the hall in the direction of this new location for his second pretend pounding of the day (with all the eyes of P.S. 118 thankfully glued to her and her beloved thus allowing her to narrowly save her reputation once more, she mentally noted to herself with satisfaction!)

Reaching her destination, the determined blond girl hurled open the janitors closet door, ripped her companion into the little room right along with her, and finally made sure to slam the door shut (though not before checking with a quick twist of the knob that it would indeed not lock on them), and then Helga, still gripping Arnold by his collar with one hand, reached up with her free hand, grabbed the pull cord for the single overhead light bulb, gave it a yank, and then turned around to face her beloved/victim and pushed him up against the inside of the door, the back of his head going against the frosted glass on the upper section that only allowed the dimmest shadow of white light from the hall to press into the little room to accompany the light from the bulb now shining down on them.

Arnold, right now, and ever since the hallway actually, wasn't really feeling _afraid_ so much as _curious_…and he now realized this fact as being pushed against the door jarred him out of his initial shock about this whole thing a little. Indeed, he recalled that he knew Helga wouldn't hit him. Ever. Even for something as stupid as that 'maybe since she pushes me around to show she likes me, she'll get that I really like her if _I _push _her_ around too' stunt he had just pulled… Yes, she simply wouldn't hurt him: he could feel it. So really mostly he was just curious right now about what she would do next…and also very cautious, choosing not to say anything until she spoke first.

"WHAT is WRONG with you, you little shrimp?" Helga instantly growled right into his face, not wasting any time and looking about as angry as he had ever seen her get in their lives.

Arnold (wisely…_very_ wisely) figured that right now was probably not the time to respond to her with anything cute or anything vague or anything stupid…He probably needed to just come completely clean with her (because, even though he knew she wouldn't hurt him…he couldn't deny this sort of fear he had of her like this right now…Not really like she was a danger to him but more like she was someone he was supposed to please and she was very very _displeased_ right now and he would be in very very big trouble if he didn't ' 'fess up' to everything and fast!). "I…" he gulped and found his voice more, his eyes still totally wide and unblinking and looking right into hers. "I was…just…trying to be nice to you. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to...I…it…But then you kept getting angry at me when I was nice so I figured you might like something, um…a little rougher…instead. Heh…" He gulped again…His heart pounded (and he tried not to think about it…too much…).

Helga's jaw opened. A little squeak escaped the back of her throat. The scowl was still dark and narrow. She blinked a few times. It was like she was so furious she couldn't even begin to form the words!

Then…

"UGH!" The young lady in question suddenly let out this yell of disgust and frustration and anger and instantly pushed her captive even more roughly up against the door! She just ranted in anger and rage! "I HATE YOU, YOU STUPID FOOTBALL HEAD! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? DO YOU THINK THIS IS SOME KIND OF STUPID GAME? 'ANNOY THE HECK OUT OF HELGA TO SEE IF I ACTUALLY CAN GET HER TO HIT ME!' IS THAT IT? 'OH LOOK AT ME, EVERYBODY, I'M _ARNOLD_—I THINK JUST BECAUSE I'M SO NICE AND GOOD AND HOPEFUL AND SWEET AND GORGEOUS AND IRRESISTABLE THAT I CAN DO WHATEVER THE HECK I WANT AND IT'LL ALL WORK OUT IN THE END! I THINK THAT ALL I HAVE TO DO IS LOOK AT HELGA WITH MY HOT AND SULTRY GREEN EYES AND BRUSH MY FINGERS THROUGH MY ENTICING UNRULY TUFTS OF YELLOW HAIR AND SMILE AT HER IN THAT CHARMING WAY OF MINE AND ACT ALL INNOCENT AND I CAN PUT HER THROUGH ANYTHING I WANT AND IT'LL ALL JUST BE FINE AND DANDY!' IS THAT IT?" she demanded of him!

Arnold was just…his eyes were fully dilated, his heart was pounding, heat seared his cheeks (partly at how worked up _he_ was getting as _she_ got worked up…and partly at…all those compliments she had strewn in among her screaming… 'enticing tufts of hair', 'charming smile', 'irresistible', 'gorgeous'… 'hot and sultry green eyes' …He gulped. She still had him in her grasp and that scowl on her flushed and angered face told him she expected an answer to her accusations…and _now_. Arnold was currently feeling such a mixture of shyness and confusion and shock and fear and guilt and wonder though that at first he only managed a breath or two (he realized now that somewhere in everything she had just said he had genuinely forgotten to breathe…)…But then… "N-No, it…" his voice squeaked and cracked but finally came out to answer her, "I…just…I like you and…wanted you to know…I-I'm sorry, Helga…I didn't mean to…I…I just like you. And, um….And…you look pretty in pink." Arnold really was in total honesty mode at this point and…somehow that last little observation of his managed to make it out of his mouth. But really…with her face so close and flushed with pink…her lips looking pink as ever from the extra passion of her anger…and that cute little pink ribbon on her head in that bow of hers sitting there in such ironic sweetness when contrasted with the current and nearly constant ire of its wearer…It was practically smacking him right in the face how nicely that color and her went together! How could he help but note it!

Meanwhile, Helga's breath just stopped. She blinked several times, looked at Arnold strangely. '_I…likes me…pink…pretty…__m-me__?'_ She felt her grip on his collar slacken…She was practically numb with just…she didn't even know what to call it. And he was just before her and in her grasp and looking at her with what appeared to be fear…and yet of course, as always, sincerity. In part she just wished she could leave this whole situation. Just…leave it. It was so conflicting and contradicting that her head just couldn't work it out. But…there was no way to do that, of course: this situation really was happening in real life right now, and he had just said some things to her and it was her part to respond to it all to give the whole thing some kind of finish. But she was just so confused…so tired and confused…and so in denial about…Arnold…Arnold actually…maybe…

Helga pulled back from the thoughts again. '_No…I can't think that…because if it's not true then…_' She sighed inside: bottom line, it was going to be disappointing enough whenever Arnold worked up the guts to give her a flat out rejection…but to build herself up from a mild acceptance of her love possibly being forever unrequited to actually believing that he was suddenly in love with her, and THEN to have him say no…The entire thing would be just unbearable.

Helga felt so sad inside for a moment thinking of all of this…and that made flicker at the back of her mind for a moment the last time she had been happy, and she even smiled a little. It had been in the locker this morning, ironically enough…her heart pounding in wild ecstasy as she and Arnold had consumed each other in kisses. Her heart fluttered again inside her chest…and then she knew…she just didn't have it in her to give him a lecture right now…In fact, all she really wanted, she realized, confused and torn as she was at the moment…was just some 'comfort'…just a little comfort and happiness…like this morning…just to help with it all for now…Just one more dose of it for the road…Then she would quit for good…definitely…maybe probably… Okay, right, that was the plan: take whatever brief bit of happiness she could get right now… And besides…after all of this…she sort of…wanted to take this opportunity to maybe gage some things like she had promised herself she would do from now on with the little Football Head… She wouldn't entirely dismiss maybe entertaining the idea of him being in love with her now, but before she let it gain even an inch more in her heart she wanted some cold, hard evidence. Lecturing him on his stupidity and risky behavior could come later, but now would be comfort and happiness and observation. '_That's the plan. Brilliant, Helga.'_ She almost smiled to herself at having come to this decision.

And now, her mind made up, Helga let her grip on Arnold's collar finally release and she lowered him gently fully back to the floor. She took her hand away from him. She glanced down, a rather bland look upon her face. She let out a breath and then spoke lightly. "Oh Arnold...Arnold, Arnold, Arnold…" Her gaze just barely came up to meet his, her body tilted gently to the side, arms behind her back, the bland look still upon her face.

Arnold meanwhile was just sort of watching her…head turned to the side a little…blushing growing brighter…There was something about her standing like that…soft yellow light glowing over her…that something almost coy in her stance…the way she spoke…He gulped and his heart actually…fluttered…and he just waited…still really unsure of how all of this was going to play out. He had been lucky with the locker this morning but…would his luck hold up in the closet? _' 'I guess I just…keep getting 'lucky', Gerald…'_ ' Arnold mentally recalled his little private pun this morning and tried not to blush or feel too humiliated at having really been that suggestive in regards to the girl before him, even if he had been the only one getting the joke.

The nervous young boy completely from his thoughts and compelled to look up by the sound of Helga letting out a little sigh… He watched her closely.

And then Helga G. Pataki reached up and gently clasped the light cord delicately between her index finger and thumb. "Oh Arnold…" she said once more, giving another little sigh…and now she let her eyes travel up to meet his for just a moment, still looking so bland…and yet…intriguing… "Don't you see…that this is why I hate you so…?" She whispered it. Then she gave the cord a little pull.

_CLICK_

The pair was put into the darker part of semi-darkness.

Arnold, blinking and with a nervous gulp, could really only see Helga as a shadowy figure just barely outlined in the faint glow of the hall light barely trying to shine in through the thick frosted glass of the upper part of the door behind him. The shadowy mystery of it all reminded him of the Deep Voice stuff…which reminded him of _other things_…just like being in here alone with her in a small dim space together reminded him of other things…from this morning…in a locker…He…He couldn't move…maybe didn't want to move…but at the very least couldn't…

And then the silvery outlined shadow of a girl came closer. She paused directly before him to the point where he could feel the warmth coming from her body…and he had already been feeling himself warm enough in here at this point as it was.

Helga let out a soft breath near her beloved…wondering how far he would let her push this…Wondering _lots_ of things about him, lately. And now with how he looked here before her with the light on the other side of the frosted glass glowing around him…making him look like a real angel with a real halo…_her_ little angel…she just couldn't stop now even if she wanted to.

"Arnold…" she whispered, moving her head just slightly closer…

Arnold only gave a little nod at first but then recalled the darkness. "Y-Yeah?" His voice cracked and that fact made him blush even more.

"Hmm…" a soft giggle met his ears… "Maybe I…spoke too hastily…You're not…_really_ all innocent and perfect…are you? No, not all innocent and perfect _at all_…" Her heart pounded.

Arnold's heart practically thundered out of his chest. "H-Huh?" he asked with another little squeak, his eyes going even wider in the darkness…And then he found his eyes falling a little…trying to keep an eye on her lips…or maybe…trying to beckon them. Who could tell anymore?

Helga just smiled to herself. "Shh…" she merely whispered…and then she gently lifted her hand to touch one of the enticing tufts of his unruly hair and began to slowly wind it around her finger… "Don't worry…There's no need to be afraid of the dark, Arnold…" '_Yes, Helga…make it all slow but steady…Give him plenty of chances to get out if it…And if he doesn't take any of them then…then…__maybe__…'_ She still dared not fully voice the thought in her mind…

"Mm…" This tiny little squeak of a groan meanwhile escaped Arnold at the feeling of her finger gently twisting that piece of his hair. Something about the action was just…practically making him shake inside. It was like she was wrapping _him_ and not just his hair cozily around her finger. A flash went through his mind of the memory of her hands fully in his hair back in the locker and he really almost collapsed at the intense recollection and at the idea of it ever occurring again…or perhaps even occurring right here and now.

"So _dark_…my Arnold…" '_And now…for the kill…'_

Arnold had no time for collapsing though as, suddenly with these simple words, Helga was at him! Her arms wrapped around every inch of him she could get, her fingers pressed and burned into his body and against his hair (just as he had been imagining and yet _even better _than even his wildest fantasies and imaginings could have ever hoped to have been), her lips consumed his…though (even though Arnold didn't realize it due to being so overwhelmed at the moment) this time in their lives Helga was trying to be more gentle and tender and slow than fast and passionate and heated with her kissing of her beloved. Those 'heat of the moment' times between them were…fantastic, of course, but who had time to think during them? No, no…now she…_wanted_ him to think…wanted him to realize his compliance in all of this…she wanted to tempt and tease him…she wanted total control and she wanted him to say…to say the words…wanted him to do it so very badly…if they really were in him… "Mmmm…." She snuggled up against him, cradled him more warmly, pressed her lips more deeply, moaned more richly, just to make the effect complete. _'Oh…Oh darn it…' _Helga's initial plan right now had been to sort of flirt with him, give him a very nice (though ultimately more tempered than her last ones to him) kiss, and then to pull apart from him gently, to reprimand him a tiny bit for some of the stuff he had been putting her through lately…and then, if things really did go well with this kiss, to ask him gently but firmly before they left this closet what was going on with him about her, upon which they would have a talk…a big, grown up, serious talk…and she knew it could go either way but darn it she had SUCH confidence in it going HER way with how he was responding to this little experiment of hers right now!

But now of course she was all caught up in kissing him and she wasn't about to stop and end it early for ANYTHING! '_Screw it, we can have our 'talk' later… For now I just…Mmm….He tastes so good!'_ She squealed a tiny bit and stroked his shoulders and twirled his hair around her fingers and just let herself have her fill of him for as long as he would have her. Besides, maybe another unending kiss like this would bring him permanently over to the 'dark side' of things right along with her…and there really was something just so very attractive about that bold, daring, rough, little dark streak in him. '_Making out with me in closets tossing me in a pool on April Fools Day, tripping me in the hall…So __bad__, Arnold…'_ She giggled at the back of her throat a little as their kiss went on. '_I love that side of him too right along with everything else about him!'_ And she proceeded to continue on 'loving' everything about him as she took everything from his lips she could get!

And Arnold just…during all of this…oh he practically shuddered! His eyes had long since rolled back into his head and then shut, he had long since lost the feeling in his legs and was just being held up by Helga pressing him against the door…and against _her_…and in response to her long, lengthy moans he could feel little moans of his own of both pain and pleasure coming from the back of his throat almost involuntarily…Pain for how much of a shock all of this was to his system…Pleasure for…well…obvious reasons… '_Oh_…' And she had been so…_captivating_…No fire, no passion…but still something alluring about her approach this time. 'What is wrong with me…?' he thought to himself in vain. 'Maybe I've gone crazy…Maybe I'm imagining all of this…Maybe I hit my head climbing up to the FTi building roof and I've been knocked out ever since…' Still though he knew that none of that was the truth…He knew that this was all real…So very real…so very warm and soft and real.

And…part of his mind started to suggest…hadn't something like this…like kissing a girl, his heart pounding, her arms around him, intimate and alone…kind of been something he had sort of always wanted in his life? After all…all those random crushes of his over the years, going all goofy for women who never wanted anything to do with him…He didn't care that he was a boy and only ten and that most guys his age still treated girls like they had cooties or something. He LIKED girls! He always had! They were pretty and nice and soft and cute and smelled good! And he WANTED a girlfriend and kisses and blushing and…and… '_L-Love…I…I always thought it'd be nice to be in love with a girl…and to have her love me back…'_ The sweet, sentimental thought managed to break through into Arnold's mind as Helga continued to tenderly hold him and press into him and tilt her head to the side and kiss him so completely. '_Helga…loves me…_' He knew it was the truth…just like, despite all of his denial, he had known it was from the moment she had told him on the roof of FTi. And well…that was half of his fantasy complete, right? Half his romantic dream come true…There was a girl who loved him…and he… '_But I don't...don't, um…I just…just.._.' He felt even more of his body go numb, heat seared his cheeks, Helga was everything and he felt himself giving in to that sweet fact. He recalled…almost admitting it before…back in the locker…what he was trying to avoid admitting now… _'I love…this…I…I love…I love…._' Oh, in his last moments of having any control over any of himself before he just passed out from all of this he was ready to reach up to Helga's shoulders, rip her searing lips from his for as long as their mouths could manage to endure the separation, look her right in eye, say something along the lines of, 'I love you, Helga G. Pataki, alright! Stop toying with me because I admit it, I love you! Oh I love you!' and then to dive at her with kisses, no longer holding back anything and finally giving in to _his_ side of this thing between them!

_MWUACK!  
_

Arnold was stopped though, darn it, by Helga suddenly desperately ripping her lips from his all on her own. He heard her taking deep, heaving breaths and the sound suddenly made him aware that he had been so blinded by the burning in his heart that he hadn't even noticed the burning in his lungs for a new breath that felt like it must have been going on for quite a while. Instantly his eyes snapped open and he took a sharp, ragged mouthful of air into his empty chest!

_FWUMP!  
_

And then there was a sound and Arnold felt disoriented for a moment and then he blinked several times and looked down and around and realized all of a sudden that Helga, in taking a breath and ending their kiss, must have pulled her body away which had left him, his legs still tingling and numb and like jelly, to drop completely to the floor in his physical weakness at her physical action. And it hit him then…the fact that there was a girl in the world…who could make him weak enough to collapse…with a simple kiss alone. '_Helga_…' He thought her name and it made his heart pound and pound and pound again. And he just…he just…

_CLICK._

Light flooded the room again. Helga must have turned on the overhead bulb once more, he realized.

And indeed, Helga, after kissing Arnold so intensely and for so long that she had felt herself get positively lightheaded, had broken from the kiss for the sake of a swig of sweet, sweet air, moved herself away from her beloved lest she be tempted to go for another kiss with him and thus make this awkward moment even _more_ awkward, and her first action had been to turn on the light again (things seemed…much less likely to happen between them in the light than in the darkness). She took several more breaths, hands resting on her thighs, just regaining herself. Now she straightened up, trembling all over. She wasn't even bothering to try and look at Arnold, her eyes just gazing dully at the floor. _'Why…is it __so freaking good__ doing that with him? Even when he's not trying, even when I'm the one doing all the work…it's SO good…_' She let out a little shuddery sigh. It wasn't fair: it wasn't fair that she knew he was the one for her but he couldn't see her as the one for him. '_But, hey, who the heck knows…'_ she thought to herself between breaths, '_Maybe…a few more kisses like this…and he __will__…Or at least he'll realize that he really could never have feelings like that about me and let me know so I can just get on with my life…'_ The latter option sent a shade of sadness through Helga again today but honestly at this point she just wanted some closure even if it wasn't the kind she was looking for. _'For now though…I guess the only thing close to that we can have is a few minutes together trapped in a locker…or a closet…_' She let out one very deep sigh and then cleared her throat and walked around Arnold who was still on his hands and knees on the floor (she wondered briefly why he was down there like that and why he hadn't gotten up yet) and then she paused in front of the closet door. "W-Well, um…" she began to sort of stutter. '_Oh for crying out loud…some generic threat, some generic threat to exit on…Think of one, Helga! NOW!'_ "Y-You're a Football Head! Bye!" '_Oh that was just BRILLIANT, Helga!'_ She growled a little in frustration at herself and rolled her eyes as she reached for the door handle.

She was delayed in her action though, to say the least, as Arnold, in a fit of desperation at her sudden words of departure, took in a sudden breath and was instantly on his feet, upon which he turned around and did the only thing he could think to do in that moment to…keep the only girl in the world who could drop him to the floor with a kiss from getting away again.

"Ahh!" Helga gasped sharply and her hand went from being about to grip the door handle to jerking away and up from the object a little. She breathed once…and her lungs expanding and contracting against the arms around her now proved it as a fact…Arnold was holding her from behind…again…just like when they had escaped from the locker this morning and he had pulled with her to get the door open. Oh she was just paralyzed. He had her right now, clasped in his warm embrace, just like he had always had her heart for all of their lives together…only now he had her heart _plus_ everything else too: literally.

Arnold, meanwhile, just clung tightly around Helga, not knowing what he was doing…but wanting to do it just the same. It was just…she just couldn't keep doing things like this to him and then just leaving him, and he…he was…going to try and work up enough courage to stop it…right now! If he would actually have the courage to actually talk to her about things…everything…everything she kept making him feel…he wasn't sure. But he was at least going to make sure SOMETHING happened besides them just kissing and pretending it was nothing and then going their separate ways and never speaking of it all again. That had happened with FTi and that had happened with the April Fools dance and that had happened with the locker this morning and he was sick of it! He couldn't handle it anymore! SOMETHING had to give…at least a little!

He felt Helga breathe against his arms again. She remained quiet. Then she let out a final breath…and practically trembled…and it made him tremble a little too.

She spoke. Whispered really…so very nervously. "This…This better be important, Football Head…What do you want?" She didn't turn to face him.

Arnold had straightened up a bit now…readjusted his grip on her a little so that it was more gentle and he could be sure he wasn't hurting her or anything. His breath was slowing. He didn't know what to say at first. Something of nostalgia about holding her like this back in the locker touched him though and he replied, likewise in a whisper, "I...um…want to…help you open the door…"

Helga just blinked a few times, so unsure. What was he talking about—helping her open the door? "I…This…This door's not locked, Football Head…D-Duh…" she managed to reply shakily. She didn't know what else to say to get him to stop…to stop…holding her…filling her with a million feelings…making her almost unable to judge clearly. "W-We…don't need to pull it…" she finished quietly and unsurely.

"Oh…" was all Arnold replied lightly. He still didn't let her go though. To be honest, along with wanting her to stay with him for a moment longer he was sort of getting very comfortable with his arms around her like this, just holding and hugging her. It suddenly occurred to him that he had found himself hugging Helga before in his life…and _often_, actually, as more and more memories of doing so started to resurface in his mind. '_Weird_…' was all he could think in regards to this interesting new observation. Still, though, except for in the locker this morning he had never hugged her like this…from behind…for a very very long time…suddenly aware of the little shivers that went through her from his touch. He…wondered something.

"Y-Yeah…" Meanwhile, Helga took in and released another shaky breath…and she knew her voice had been unintentionally be light and airy when she had spoken this time. "We can…get out whenever we…want to…" was all she could think to repeat again. And then… "Ahh….Oh…" She practically swooned…as Arnold's chin and head now came to rest upon her shoulder, just like back in the locker…his breath hitting her neck, tempting her with kisses.

He actually nuzzled her neck a little, gently and shyly. "Mmm hmm…" he sighed out with a little nod (partly a nervous reaction, partly for an excuse to himself to keep up the nuzzling motion via his nod…but really the skin of her neck was so soft, how could he resist?). "Whenever…we want to…" he whispered sweetly near her ear. Arnold knew now the best way to keep her here—begging wouldn't work, trying to reasonably convince her wouldn't work…love would work though. Even if he wasn't…sure yet…Although… Arnold inhaled through his nose and let out a shuddery sigh. '_She smells so nice…Like flowers and sugar…_' He let his nuzzling go up near her hair and found it to be the only thing softer in the world than her skin. "Hey…Helga?" he asked before he could chicken out. After all, if she really would stay here for a bit more with him…and then if they could really find a way to control themselves alone with each other…maybe they really could finally talk and settle all of this stuff between the two of them once and for all.

Helga G. Pataki gave the slightest nod to Arnold's address to her and it made her even more aware of her physical contact with Arnold right now as her face brushed more against his. "Y-Yes…?" she whispered, feeling her lips quiver and her knees buckle and quake. '_It's just not fair! It's not fair that he affects me so!' _She waited and both hoped and feared he would whisper 'I love you' into her ear…It would be a dream come true but she was also pretty sure she would pass out from it and start monologuing about their wedding in her sleep. But whatever happened she just wanted it to happen already before she burst from all of this tension!

Arnold sighed once more, still holding her so lovingly in his arms…still nuzzling a little…as he whispered more into her ear. "If…If you think about it…maybe we should, um…probably wait to leave here…until everyone else goes away…since I'm supposed to look like I got pounded for tripping you…but I don't really…" He knew it was bold. But he had been bold the last time he had held her like this…and now was like a second chance to do what would have come naturally this morning had Brainy not interrupted them. At the same time, Arnold knew he was losing sight of the point of all of this…he was letting himself get caught up in the heat of the moment again, all the romance and passion…Not an ideal situation for having a reasonable adult talk about feelings and stuff. But… '_Just for once…can't I not be the reasonable one, the responsible one, the level headed one, the wet blanket…Would it really be so wrong of me to just let us have this for a little while longer?'_ He recalled Helga's words from this morning… 'Let Dark Arnold come out…' He smiled a little more. '_Well…if I do have a dark side…it certainly only likes to come out with her…__Loves__ to come out with her, actually…_' As he nuzzled and hugged her he let his lips brush her skin here and there and almost shook at all of the potential available to him to just…to love her…like she loved him… "Don't _you_ think we should stay in here for a little longer too, Helga…?" he prompted again in the lightest, teasing whisper.

"O-O-Oh _y-y-yes_…" Helga whispered back shakily, practically melting under his nuzzles and low voice and the fantasy of his kisses and his arms holding her so snugly and those little places upon her neck and collar where she could would swear she could feel the touch of the moisture of his lips now and again. "Uh…I…I mean…" she tried to save face at least a little…even though she had already decided they were not leaving this closet just yet at all... "I-I mean, right…we should stay…so no one sees that you're not pounded… I-I mean, at least…at least last time you looked…" she blinked a few times and then recalled exactly how Arnold had looked upon exiting the locker with her this morning and also exactly WHY he had looked like that and for a moment she blushed furiously…though she was still mostly caught up in his charm and touch… "Uh…you looked…_you know_," she finished quickly. "So maybe…until the other kids are gone so that they can't see you…we should just wait…here…together…"

She was about to turn around. About to finally face him, his arms still around her, and to look at him not with a scowl or an eye roll and not even dreamily and goofy- like but…just as a girl ready for a kiss… '_Oh who cares how awkward it all gets? I just need him…I __need__ to kiss his perfect li—'_

_CLICK _

Before she could completely turn around though, Arnold, sensing from the slight shift of her body that she was about to indeed turn to face him had suddenly realized with a gulp that he did _not_ have it in him to look her in the eye before…whatever was going to happen with them now actually happened…And so on instinct before she could complete the action he had quickly reached up and before he could stop himself or think better of it grabbed the light switch and pulled it, sending them into darkness again!

Helga gasped at the sudden change in atmosphere and quickly completed the action of her turn so that now she was facing Arnold as he held her in his arms. She then blinked a few times and finally fully realized the darkness around her…and _then_ she finally fully realized that her beloved must have sent them into it! Her heart fluttered and she almost swooned. It was so…romantic. Oh she wanted him right now!

Arnold meanwhile was just gulping and still holding her and blushing and feeling thankful that the dark was hiding all of his apparent nervousness…and he just didn't know what to say. He had used the little influence he had on her to keep her around and now…it was time to follow through on his flirtations. And though he wanted to more than anything else in the world right now, he was still just a scared and nervous ten-year-old boy somewhere deep down inside…alone in the dark with his arms around a girl. So, yes, if his head wanted to be kind enough to come up with what to say to her next, he was more than open to any ideas.

Luckily though Helga took care of this problem for him by choosing to speak herself.

"Arnold…" she whispered quite delicately…quite meaningfully…in the darkness, "You're still holding me…." She felt her heart thump faster.

Arnold gulped again, didn't know what to say still…but then felt his own heart thump faster too…and something told him what to say… "And you're…still letting me…" he replied back shyly…almost smiling a tiny bit to himself…his eyes falling downward…the direction of Helga's lips he soon realized. The little smile grew.

And then Helga took in a breath and let out a breath and he saw that mouth ask…in a quieter voice…with just a touch of a more serious tone… "Arnold…do you want to…stop…before it's…too late?"

Arnold blinked several times and then realized she was serious. She was…giving him an out, wasn't she? '_Really_?' And then he just smiled even more—silly thing, didn't she realize he didn't WANT an out? That he had jumped up from the floor and clung to her to keep her in here mere moments ago because he was _actively avoiding_ an out? He took a little breath, felt thankful again that the darkness was covering all of his blushing and then pulled Helga closer in a bit of a bold move, causing her to gasp and tense in his arms at first. "Actually…" he whispered sincerely back to her, "…don't you think we should…START before it's too late…Helga…?" Saying her name made a little shudder go through him again. He recalled back in the classroom, all those spitballs from her all day long…and imagining them as real little kisses on his head and face and neck…He wanted that…

Helga took in one last shuddery breath of happiness. She had even given him a final chance at escape just to…just to really make sure that he wanted to be here with her and he _hadn't_ taken it. And he wanted to _start_! There really was a chance, wasn't there! A chance that he…oh that he… Her smile beamed.

And instantly that did it!

"Oh I absolutely can't stand you, you stupid Football Head—MMM!" Helga just shouted in romantic glee and instantly she threw her arms around Arnold's form and dove at him and found his lips with her own, and quickly she was moaning and just letting all the built up stuff inside of her go! She just held him and savored and never stopped! Oh it was all so wonderful and all so worth the insanity he had been putting her through lately!

"MMM?" came a sound of surprise from Arnold's shocked mouth meanwhile at this first bold advance of Helga's, but then after toppling back a bit he managed to use his hold still around her body to steady himself and he gripped at her jumper more for extra balance, and then he closed his eyes and really did just let them have this for once…this… 'whatever it was' between them… "Mmm…" He moaned consciously this time, enjoying the push and pull between himself and her while they did this, the warmth that came from holding each other, the fact that she was back like this for him again…

The two children kept struggling back a forth a bit with this whole 'extended kissing at the same time thing' but then eventually found a rhythm and just managed to work with each other to keep it going, doing their bests to take half breaths through their noses as they moaned and sighed and learned how to kiss together, just loving this closeness so much…

And then Helga, finding her desire for intimacy with Arnold, rather than being relieved, only growing even _more_ insatiable as her experience of it continued felt a sudden urge for something 'more', and instantly planned to rip her lips from his only to then kiss all over his perfect cheeks and chin and nose and neck… She wanted to mark him as hers in every way she could while she had the chance! Wanted to see his warm, smiling face as he walked down the hall and to know that secretly her lips had been upon every perfect inch of it! 'Oh Arnold, at last…you really will be more mine than you have ever been before!'

_MWUACK!_

She pulled their lips apart, as per her new intended course of action, and took a second to just re-firm her grip on her beloved and catch her breath…so many breaths…

But then oxygen coming back into her brain started to remind Helga of exactly what she was doing here with Arnold and how far they were letting this go and also, even though she was happy for a confirmation that he seemed to be genuinely progressing in the 'feelings department' when it came to her, the more involved this whole thing right now got the more likely it was that their 'big talk' really would happen right here and right now! '_Oh…Oh…There's…There's going to be no way to take it back now, is there? No, I…I can't do this right now! Having this actually be the moment when I found if…if he…and we…!_' It might have seemed silly after seven years of LONGING for this moment and after previously thinking that here and now might actually be a pretty good time to take them around to talking everything out, but now that the actual moment felt so suddenly and spontaneously fully here it was just too much and she was panicking and feeling like she had no control over the situation anymore all because she had let herself lose control with Arnold! She had to stop this! Had to give it a reason for happening that they could go with so that she could silently communicate to him that now…right now just…just couldn't be _the time_! "Okay, time out!"

_CLICK_

Helga had reached up and turned on the light again (figuring that getting them out of romantic darkness would definitely be the first right step in breaking the spell they were under). She was fully prepared to then proceed to weave whatever excuse she could come up with on the spot to seriously get them out of having to talk about this 'we BOTH actually WANT to kiss EACH OTHER' moment…and the stuff about Arnold's true feelings toward her that it must lead to…

"Arnold I—"

Helga froze.

Her eyes went wide and her jaw fell…

The look on Arnold's face…She had never seen…Well, at least she had never seen it at this _level_ before.

…The enamored smile, the flushed cheeks, the posture slouched just because of how overwhelmed he obviously was with passion, and the eyes…hazed and warm and…and also she suddenly realized that his arms were wrapped around the upper and lower parts of her back rather snugly and intimately and almost roughly and—

_CLICK!  
_

The light was off again and Helga was just left blinking with spots before her eyes and trying to convince herself that she really had just seen what she had seen…That look…It was how Arnold looked at girls he liked…_like_ liked…but there was something else there too. Something so passionate and fiery and gone that she almost couldn't bear it. _'A-And…why did he turn off the light again?'_ She almost shivered at the idea that he had done so to go right back to kissing her—the idea that the mouth making that practically intoxicated smile would be upon her own once more. And yet no renewal of kissing happened as the next few seconds passed and although she felt some small disappointment at fact she also couldn't help feeling a degree of relief as she wasn't entirely certain how she might have handled it if he really had just started mauling her again without a word.

And then, as the spots before her eyes cleared, Helga recalled a millisecond of an image that had come to them just before the small room had been plunged into darkness once more…Yes, that look on Arnold's face had…shifted dramatically for just a second, though all Helga had had time to observe was his smile disappearing and jaw dropping and those green eyes of his going wide as could be before she had heard the 'click' of the pull cord, and then—

_CLICK!_

And now suddenly the light was back on and Helga blinked a few times once more as her eyes again adjusted to the brightness, and then her gaze went directly to Arnold's countenance…and then she blinked few more times and even raised part of her brow, feeling a little stumped to say the least.

Arnold was now just grinning casually, almost nervously, some of the flushed look was still in his features but otherwise his eyes and mouth were back to normal and his arms had even gone back into a normal hugging position around her body instead of that…romantic hold he had had on her just seconds ago. "U-Uh…" The young boy cleared his throat, unsure of what to say. And his heart was still hammering away in his chest, just as it had been doing ever since he had processed Helga unexpectedly stopping their kiss and turning on the light a second ago! '_She…The light…she turned it on and __saw__….'_ He blushed even more! In the darkness…as long as they had been getting carried away with the kissing, he'd…he'd just let EVERY inhibition go! He had let himself go all goofy looking, let his arms wrap all over her, let himself go crazy! And then she had seen how he looked! What if she thought…knew…thought he…He was so shy to have been seen like that!

"Okay, Arnold? First of all…" A touch of sarcasm was back in Helga's voice and that plus the fact that she was suddenly speaking again caused Arnold to look up. He blinked at the sight of her scowling a little (which made an interesting contrast with the fact that she was still panting a bit and looking rather flushed from what they had just been doing together), "No more 'musical lights', for crying out loud. This back in forth with the darkness is killing my eyes!" Arnold just blushed a little extra and glanced down and hoped she wouldn't ask him to explain pulling the light cord on and off just now while he had…roped himself in a little. "And second of all…" she went on…and then she let out one or two more pants and then seemed normal again. She looked into his eyes, firmed up her hold in his shoulders a little…her scowl faded…. "And second of all…A-Arnold?" She addressed him cautiously now.

Arnold gave a tiny gulp…tried not to just collapse at her hold on him tightening, and then barely managed to glance up into her eyes, likewise done catching his breath now. "Y-Yes…Helga?"

Helga (who had come to a decision) took in a breath, let out a breath, then shrugged and said as normally as she could, "Uh…go with me on this…for why we're, uh…you know…_you knowing_…_a lot_ right now…" Helga just…just needed things for today to wrap up…and to remember for the next time she got close to Arnold that perhaps it was better to take things a bit slower when you wanted something serious to come out of it. Passion was fun but…one day she really did want to cement things between them with Arnold one way or another in a real, serious, talked out way…Not just…in the heat of a moment in a closet full of used mops and generic bleach… That felt so tacky and so beneath her feelings for him. Maybe instead someplace…romantic…yes, someplace romantic and real and warm and special and smelling like tropical flowers and life…when they were ready…but not here and not now. "Uh…" she went on with her explanation, "I…think we're _you knowing_ because we both know that even if we think everyone's gone home already there could still be a few people we know roaming the halls because of detention and stuff…So we need to, um…make you look…kind of beat up…for when we leave…just in case anyone sees us…But of course I-I don't want to really have to hurt you to get that effect, so…you know…" She shrugged a little and her wide eyes looked at him shyly, waiting for him to get where she was going with this…

And of course at first her dense little Arnold only blinked and looked puzzled, waiting for her to go on.

Helga, summing up all of her patience, just sighed and tried not to smile too much at his sweet obliviousness and then prompted further, "I don't want to hit you to make you look beat up, and last time 'whatever we might have done' back in the locker managed to make you look scuffed up enough to pass for beat up…so maybe that's why we're, uh, reliving our little locker moment right here?" She tried not to blush too much as she finished.

Arnold blinked and then blushed as it all sunk in and then he quickly nodded and cleared his throat a little and managed to reply, starting to see…what she wanted right now…where she was leading them…And honestly he was…okay with kind of putting off things…BIG things that would have to get said between them soon…for just another day at least… "Oh…I…guess you're right, Helga. I-It's probably important for me to look beat up…just in case…to keep up…your…your, um…reputation. And if this is the best way then…" He just nodded a little and added…trying not to blush…or smile…too much. "Guess that's…something we'll have keep in mind for the next time I annoy you and you have to 'pound' me, huh?" He couldn't even believe he'd let himself say that…but who cared. They had both decided again today that this particular moment of heat didn't count for real life so…why not silently acknowledge that he wouldn't entirely be opposed to a few more times like this until he really figured out his feelings and they really settled everything once and for all? "You're good at making people look beat up, Helga…" Adding that last thing sent an extra blush to his cheeks but he didn't care at all about it.

Helga just smiled in relief that he seemed to be getting her and nodded in response to him. "Okay well yeah, so we're on the same page then and I…_Huh_?" Her eyes dilated and her jaw fell and she tried to process…whatever the heck it was he had just…implied to her! '_For the next time…NEXT TIME! He_…' He wanted 'next times'! Kissing Arnold…as a regular part of her life? Helga almost couldn't process…And then_… 'I'm g-good at…at…' _A jolt went through her and she looked down shyly…at what he had just said to her without actually saying it…That she was…good…at…

"Um…" a totally shy and now practically grinning goofily Arnold started to ask then, bringing her out of her flustered thoughts, "Helga…I know _I'm_ supposed to be the one who looks beat up after all of this so…I'm sorry if it looks like you got a little, um, 'roughed up' too when we're done…kind of like this morning…but…don't worry…I'm sure we'll find some kind of way to explain it away." He smiled even more, just because he felt like it…and hugged her a little more snugly even as he added… "I guess…somehow I'm not so bad at making people look beat up either, huh?" He chuckled a tiny bit at the interesting notion…that he was actually kind of good at…things like what he had done with Helga this morning and what he was doing with her just now…After all, with how she moaned and sighed and silently begged for more…he had to be giving her some kind of good time, right?

Helga didn't say anything to all of that…He was flirting with her and the concept let alone the actual situation was so much for her senses to take in that she could barely feel her body anymore. She just looked even more surprised and her blush deepened. '_Wh…Huh?'_ her tingling mind could only think to itself.

Arnold chuckled a little more, unable to help himself at that cute little puzzled and flustered look on the face of the girl in his arms. He let out a breath. "I like you, Helga G. Pataki. And you really do look…very pretty in pink…Very pretty…"

_CLICK_

And then he had reached up and turned off the light.

And then Helga tried not to just die at the feeling of him pulling her in and…and… Her lips had puckered at the last second upon the light going out again in anticipation of him crashing his own into them, but no…Instead he was just…just coating her face and neck and even lips sometimes with tender little kisses just like she had been planning to do to him before she had turned on the light before. And he also gave her more nuzzles like from earlier and hugged her and just made her legs all but give out from under her. "Mmm…." She moaned in such deep pleasure as all of this went on…as she felt herself marked as his…never having thought of that idea before…but loving it…_loving_ it so…. "A-Arnold…?" she barely whispered out his name a few seconds later, her breaths shallow and warm.

Arnold, 'busy' at the moment though still with enough awareness to hear her, stopped his kisses momentarily at the sound of her voice…though with how close he remained the threat of them lingered. The nuzzles into her neck and shoulder continued unabated. "Y-Yes…?" He let out a shuddery sigh and felt that wonderfully smitten look come back to his face again and he just let the kisses start up once more. He had been going to wait until she had said whatever she had to say to start giving them to her again but what the heck—she could talk and be covered in kisses from him at the same time. And it felt so good to give in and just kiss her…everywhere… '_She smells like flowers and the skin on her cheeks is as soft as flower petals…and her lips are the softest of all… Wow…_' he thought to himself in joy. _ 'She'd be some girl to be in love with…And she's some girl to have love you…' _And if all of this wasn't even love yet for him…he couldn't even imagine how wonderful it would feel to actually be admittedly totally in love with Helga and to be with her like this…

Meanwhile, Helga, at the return of Arnold's kisses, just let out a shuddery sigh and said with her lips trembling in a smile, "Just…Just don't read too much into this and I won't read too much into this…and we can sort this out later for both of our sakes…okay?"

At those words Arnold just let out a deep warm breath near her ear and stopped his kisses once more to say something. "Helga?"

"Yes…Arnold?" she barely got out, her eyes totally closing in pure bliss.

"Just…" he gave the edge of her ear a tiny kiss more, "Just don't hold back anymore with me. I need to know exactly what I'm dealing with. The whole thing. Please. A-And…And I won't hold back either."

She just nodded, unknowning what else to say. "Oh Arnold…" And then suddenly she took the reigns again and on a rush of adrenaline and love pushed him back against the door of the closet again and this time started covering _his_ head and face and neck with kisses until she met his lips again and then stayed there as their mouths burned together as one in love. And then for who-knows-how-long the two children lost all track of time just burying themselves in denial about their own feelings and their companion's feelings in the sweetest way they could find for the rest of this 'heat of the moment' together.

* * *

_Fifth grade…_

It was an average morning in the halls of P.S. 118 (although it _was_ getting a bit late, which explained why fewer and fewer kids were seen racing through the halls all in their attempts to get to class on time.)

As one hallway became completely abandoned, an observer taking the time to really wait and listen might have heard…a rather strange sound or two coming from…the lockers?

_BUMP_

_CLANG_

A giggle, half moaned, half laughed.

Such a deep sigh…and chuckle.

And then finally when there was really not a soul around and maybe ninety seconds or so until the bell was going to ring, a locker door was opened…from the inside.

Instantly a smiling and panting and blushing and joyful looking Arnold and Helga tumbled out, practically falling to the floor from squeezing out of such a confined space together. Upon hitting the linoleum though all they did was laugh and then Arnold, looking down at Helga who had fallen out first (thus putting her beneath him) just sighed and smiled and reached up a hand and gently brushed her now mussed hair from her face. Then he bent down and gave her lips another gentle, soft kiss.

He pulled back eventually. He sighed and looked into her dazed eyes. "Helga…" he started with so much enamoriation, "You know…Everyone pretty much knows about us being together…I mean, they stumbled over us kissing in that supply closet on the plane back from San Lorenzo when Harold led everyone to the back to raid the pantry for snacks… So we don't HAVE to hide in a locker to kiss in the mornings before class…We can just…do it…" He let out a final happy breath and then shifted off of his love and stood and held out a hand to help her stand up as well.

An elated Helga just giggled and let out a happy sigh and then took his hand and got herself up and dusted herself off a little before closing her locker door (they had been making sure to use _their own_ lockers as opposed to other people's for these things ever since the first time with the Brainy incident). "Aw, I know we don't have to hide to kiss anymore really…" she assured him…and then her eyes narrowed and she got close and in his face and added in a sultry voice, "But…you KNOW that dark side of yours is always more prone to come out when we're actually IN the dark, Football Head…Hmm, I swear, when we're just strolling in the park or relaxing up in Mighty Pete or sitting in one of our rooms and kissing you're so sweet and shy…but trapped in darkness with me…all alone and close together…you really do become my sultry preteen…" She winked.

Arnold's smile got all goofy and he got all blushy and he just chuckled and gave a little shrug. "I…I like the dark too, Helga…You, um…You sort of lose control a little too…It reminds me of your confession. I like it." He felt flames dance in his cheeks but he just didn't care…She was wonderful and fiery and the most intense woman he had ever met and he wanted her to know it.

Helga just blushed extra and glanced to the side with a secret smile. "Eh rope it in, lover boy. Anyway, ready to escort me to class, my prince charming?" She grinned and held out one of her arms for Arnold to hook one of his with it.

Arnold nodded and of course hooked them together. "Of course, Helga. It would be my pleasure."

The two in love kids began to shuffle down the hall to class together, fully aware that they would walk in just in the nick of time when everyone would see them, and also fully aware of how they looked between the locker stuff and their blushing and being so close, but they didn't care… No one seemed to be bugging them too much about their obvious relationship so, as Helga had been prone to put it to herself in the giddiness of her finally requited love lately, '_Eh, let 'em look!'_

"So…," Helga turned her head and addressed her love at her side as they continued to walk along together, "I take it that as usual right after the bell rings this afternoon I'll be seeing you in the janitors closet across the hall to…finish letting Arnold have his 'dark side' time? And to finish letting me give in to all of my wildest girlish desires about you?" She winked.

Arnold shifted a little closer to her and replied with a little nod, looking down and to the side and still just smiling and blushing away, "Uh huh…Same time and place just like every afternoon…just like we meet to spend time in one of our lockers every morning." He smiled more. "Helga…" he glanced at her, "I like our little tradition with trapping ourselves in lockers and even closets…I've never looked forward to coming to school every day or getting dismissed every afternoon so much in my entire life." He gulped and then leaned up and gave her a kiss on a cheek as they rounded a corner and finally came in sight of the classroom.

Helga giggled again (a touch of something goofy in it thanks to his little kiss) and nodded in agreement. "I like that tradition too, Arnold. And I like it even better that we can do things like that and kiss now just because we love each other and want to, and not because we're scared and unsure about things like back when all this lockers and closets stuff started... It's a nice little piece of the past that we've been able to keep going…and for the right reasons this time." She snuggled her head against his shoulder a little and then gave him a little kiss on the forehead. "I love you, Arnold…" she whispered into his ear, "And I love that some things never change." She giggled and then pulled back shyly.

They stopped walking now as they reached the classroom door and Arnold unhooked his arm from Helga's. "Yeah, some things never change. And speaking of which," he reached out and opened the door and then gestured forward and bowed a little, "Ladies first?" He grinned a little more at her.

Helga giggled and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah…you and your endless supply of corny chivalry. Come on, let's just go…The sooner we get in there, the sooner we get 'janitors closet time'." She winked and then sauntered in right past him and Arnold walked in behind her (gazing at her the whole time), letting the classroom door shut behind them (and secretly counting down the minutes until 'janitors closet time' himself).

It really was nice that some things never changed like Arnold and Helga's little locker/closet tradition…And yet of course it could also be said that every once in a while it was also nice that some things _did_ change…like Arnold and Helga finally coming out of a locker or a closet together and making plans to do it again the next chance they got instead of stubbornly denying the inevitability of their perfect passion and love. A balance between the old and the new…not dissimilar to the balance between Helga's seven year old love for Arnold…and Arnold's fresh realization of love for Helga.

* * *

**A/N:**

I really hoped you guys liked this sequel, especially you, KASUKapl :) Please review, everyone, and thanks for reading! And as for what of mine'll be updated next, look for the next chapter of LTBH sometime probably in the second or third week of July…and possibly another special oneshot coming from me in that month too ;) After that, look for one LTBH chapter a month plus at least one or two chapters of my other fics as I try to wrap up some of my in progress stuff ^w^ After all, I'm pretty determined to have nothing major in progress and at the very least all of LTBH done…before I start my TJM adaptation ^w^ Soooo many plans have been brewing for that for YEARS, lol!

Anyway, I hope you all of a lovely day :) And for my buddies in the States, Happy almost 4th of July! 8D

Happy Reading!

~Azure129 aka Jenna


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